Saint Paul VI

Giovanni Battista Montini was born on September 26, 1897, in Concesio, near Brescia, Italy. Ordained a priest on May 29, 1920, he served for three decades in the Vatican Secretariat of State, and in 1954 became archbishop of Milan, where he reached out to workers and those far from the Church. He was elected pope on June 21, 1963, during the Second Vatican Council, and took the name Paul.

Paul VI brought the Council to its conclusion in 1965 and guided its implementation, including the reform of the liturgy. He was the first pope to fly and to visit five continents: in 1964 he went to the Holy Land and embraced Patriarch Athenagoras, in 1965 he pleaded for peace at the United Nations, and in 1968 he visited Colombia, the first pope to set foot in Latin America. He died at Castel Gandolfo on August 6, 1978, and was canonized on October 14, 2018, together with Saint Óscar Romero.

Pope Francis added his optional memorial to the General Roman Calendar in 2019, on May 29, the anniversary of his priestly ordination. His native Diocese of Brescia and the Archdiocese of Milan celebrate him with special devotion, and in Colombia he is remembered for the 1968 Eucharistic Congress in Bogotá and the opening of the Latin American bishops' conference at Medellín.